Perfect Day for a Game
by SabaceanBabe
Summary: Feint to the left. Spin in place, foot slipping in dust and grit. Throw.


Title: Perfect Day for a Game

Author: SabaceanBabe

Rating: PG

Word count: 650+

Characters or pairings: Helo, Hotdog, Anders, Starbuck

Spoilers: missing year fic

Author's note: written for Shandyla for the occasion of her birthday. Unbetaed.

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Feint to the left. Spin in place, foot slipping in dust and grit. Throw.

_Damn. Off balance_, Karl thought as the ball slammed into the support to the left of the goal. The ball clattered its way down and dropped right into Hotdog's waiting hands.

At least that was Brendan's plan, but Anders was too fast. The former Pyramid pro dodged in at the last second and snatched the ball, leaving the Viper jock grasping only air. Hotdog stared at where the ball should have been, dumbfounded by the other man's speed, as Sam sent it soaring elegantly into the goal. Karl couldn't help but laugh and Brendan shot him a wounded look, which only made him laugh harder.

"Brendan, man, I thought you were faster than that." The younger man glared at him and Sam joined Karl in laughter.

"Give it up, Hotdog," Kara called from where she sat with her leg propped up on an old packing crate. She'd blown her knee out the day before, playing one-on-one with her husband. "You're not going to beat him again."

Breathing hard, Brendan shot Kara a rude gesture, secure in the knowledge that she couldn't come after him, and said to Sam, "Best three out of four?"

With a broad grin, Sam shrugged and tossed the ball to Brendan. "It's your—"

"Funeral?" Karl teased. Brendan was breathing like a bellows.

"I was gonna say 'money,'" Anders laughed, "but whatever.

"Ha ha," Brendan sneered and, with a feint at Sam, threw the ball at Helo with enough force to elicit a surprised gasp. But reflexes kicked in and Karl caught it with ease.

Just that quickly, the fourth game of the afternoon was on, only to be interrupted a few moves in by an abrupt and unheralded downpour.

Brendan, who had the ball, stopped cold at the sudden cascade of water, perfectly normal for New Caprica, but startling for shipdwellers. "Gah!" He turned, head bowed to shield his eyes, and jogged toward Sam and Kara's tent.

"Hey!" Karl and Sam shouted in unison.

"Where're you going?" Sam continued, voice filled with outrage.

"What the frak are you _doing_?" Karl added, throwing his hands up in frustration. He had been ahead of Sam by two points.

Brendan turned back toward the two men and slowed, walking backwards, but still walking. "Are you crazy? It's raining!"

The rain slowed as quickly as it had begun, settling into what promised to become a steady shower. Karl and Sam looked at each other for a moment. Water dripped down their faces and necks into already sodden clothes. Sam threw his head back and laughed.

"We're not gonna get any wetter," Karl yelled, remembering a game in the rain that first night at the high school. It had been two-on-two, rather than a three-for-all, Karl and Kara versus Sam and Jean.

"Throw me the damn ball, rook!" Sam shouted, the voice of authority. "Back on Caprica, this would've been ideal weather for Pyramid."

"Or at least ordinary," Karl added. Clearly, Sam was thinking of the same game.

Brendan looked from one to the other. "You _are_ insane." Shaking his head, he tossed the ball at Sam, then jogged the rest of the way over to Kara. Once safely under the shelter of the tent's overhang, he shook off water like a dog, splattering it far and wide, soaking Kara in the process.

"Hey!" she shouted, throwing her hands up to shield her eyes. "You're a dead man, Costanza!"

Brendan slapped the palms of his hands to his cheeks in mock terror. The rain continued to fall, gentle and steady. Karl pulled his gaze from the show in the tent and looked over at Anders, who shrugged and grinned.

For just a moment, Karl could almost forget, standing there in the rain and laughing with friends, that they were millions of kilometers away from the home that none of them would ever see again.

fin


End file.
